Strange New City
by justmellarkingabout
Summary: TMI AU: Clary moved to the city to escape the repetitive suburban life. How will she fair sharing with an infuriating diva, living across from her room-mates moody brother, and arrogant room mate, and downstairs from the party-obsessed owner? Let alone everybody else in the building! Clace/Sizzy/Malec Much Much More.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Clary smiled. She'd finally done it; left her mother, step-father and suburbia behind. She looked up at the building in front of her. The gothic architecture added to the charm of the building, it was beautiful though a little run down she had to admit. She unloaded her bags and boxes from the cab and walked up the stone steps to the door. She stared through the glass and gave a knock before realising there was an intercom right next to her head. She had not been sent a key by the person she'd be renting the apartment with.

Clary read the labels next to each buzzer from the top down "3a M. Bane…. 2b A. Lightwood and J. Lightwood… 2a I. Lightwood… 1b …" The slot next to 1a was empty Clary noted, also noting the large amounts of Lightwoods who lived in this building. She had applied to live with a girl called Isabelle Lightwood- clearly the owner of apartment 2a. Clary pressed the button and waited for a response, the bell rang but nothing happened. She pressed again. Still nothing. It was getting dark, and she feared for all of her possessions abandoned on the pavement. Panicking she decided to press the buzzer for 2b. They were Lightwood's too, so surely they could help her? The bell rang, and a voice spoke. "Hello, the one and only Jace speaking?" The voice was faintly British, and almost musical. "Hello?" The voice repeated. Clary snapped out of her daydream and came back to her senses;

"Erm hey. I'm Clary Fra-" The voice interrupted,

"I'm sorry, but if this is a cold call we're really not interested. You should press the button for 3a. He loves cold callers"

"No, erm, my name is Clary Fray, I'm meant to be moving in to apartment 2a."

"Then why have you called 2b? Is it because you want to talk to your new neighbours before you move in officially? Or perhaps because you have heard of me?" Clary interrupted the voice.

"I'm sorry, I've absolutely no idea who you are, but I pressed the button for 2a and there was no answer, I thought you might be able to help?"

"Oh. In that case I'll open the door." There was a click and the voice disappeared, but the door opened. She grabbed what she could and began to walk up the stairs because there was no lift. The entryway and halls were eccentrically decorated. Black and white chequered floor with hot pink walls, there were strange artistic paintings and sculptures everywhere, all abstract in a way that you had to squint to make anything out. She reached the first floor where apartment 2a, and 2b were both located, exactly adjacent to each other. The door to 2b swung open, and outstepped the most handsome man Clary had ever seen, yet the closer she looked the more she noticed how he was not a man at all. He was young like her, maybe even her age (not that she looked 18) or a little older. He had ruffled golden hair and amber eyes which resembled honey. He was considerably taller than she was, but he wasn't gangly and awkward like her friend Simon, he was toned and muscular and quite heavily tattooed on his arms. She couldn't help but stare at him hopelessly wishing she was wearing something a little nicer. "I tend to have that effect a lot." He smirked, taking in her expression and the length of time she'd been staring at him. She looked away impulsively.

"Sorry- I" He interrupted her again. It seemed to be a habit, but the interruption came much to her relief as she couldn't quite explain why she had stared at him for so long without embarrassing herself.

"I'm Jace Lightwood." He smiled charmingly. "You must be Clarissa, sorry it's why I didn't recognise you at the door, I was expecting a Clarissa not Clary. I'm afraid Izzy has gone out. Alec tells me, she's gone to see that fancy French boyfriend of hers Meilorn or something." He shrugged and Clary just nodded. She had no idea what he was going on about. "But you're welcome to come and stay with us for a bit until she gets back."

"Okay, I just need to go and collect the rest of my stuff from the pavement." She said shyly backing away.

"Need help?" His eyes sparkled.

"Sure I suppose." She walked back downstairs and grabbed another box, with him on her heels.

Within minutes, Jace and Clary had transported everything she had bought up onto the 2nd floor landing. Few words passed between them, just small talk about the weather and life in the city.

"Just leave your stuff here" Jace dismissed, throwing open the door and wandering in. Clary hung back hesitantly.

"Are you sure Jace? I mean nobody is going to come and steal it right?" She followed him cautiously into the apartment.

"No, no…. Nobody comes in here apart from us." He collapsed down onto an old tattered looking sofa. Clary stood awkwardly in the doorway, swaying from one foot to the other, looking around the apartment. It was dark, the only light came from the windows which faced out onto the street, and a small table lamp situated next to the brown, tattered and thread bare sofa, on which Jace had positioned himself. The walls were bare of decoration, leaving the brick showing. There was a small fire place and a large furry rug on the wooded floor. The whole place was spotless, not an item of furniture out of place, yet it was still cosy. "Clarissa? Are you just going to stand there?" His muscular arms thrown wide over the back of the sofa, his head tilted puzzled to the side. She pushed her hair behind her ear and made her way over towards an armchair adjacent to the sofa. She sat and tapped her foot on the floor, as Jace flung his feet up onto the coffee table, watching her every move. They sat in silence. She knew Jace was watching, but she couldn't make eye contact with him.

"This is a nice place you've got." Clary said looking around.

"Thanks" he replied. They spent another minute in silence. Jace still watching, Clary still avoiding.

"Do you know when your sister will be back?"

"My sister?" The confusion was evident in his voice. His eyebrows narrowed as he pondered. "OH! You mean Izzy! She's not my sister." He shook his head with a smile, Clary stared. "She's Alec's sister. Speaking of whom…. ALEC!" He called.

A young man about Jace's age appeared at the door to one of the rooms. "What do you want Jace?" Clary could see the blueness of his eyes from across the room, sparkling in the low light. His hair was a jet black, and from what Clary could see his arms were also covered in heavy black tattoos. He didn't even notice Clary was there.

"Clary this is Alec. Izzy's brother. Clary Alec, Alec Clary." Jace introduced. Alec's eyes flicked to her, taking her in.

"Okay." He didn't bother saying hello. "So…. Why is she here?" His eyes went back to Jace.

"She's Izzy's new roomie." Jace lay back on the sofa, arms outstretched.

"Oh. Okay then." He went back into his room before Clary even got chance to ask about Isabelle.

"Sorry about him." Jace turned to her, his muscular arms still outstretched. "Don't worry Clary" He said relaxed. "She'll be back soon." Just as he finished saying it, Alec appeared in the doorway again, tossing Clary a key.

"I called her. She said go right on in." Then the black haired boy disappeared once again.

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**Tell me what you think! Please! Good or Bad! Hopes for new chapters! Tell me everything!**


	2. Chapter 2

The key in the lock. The lock turns. The door swings open. And there Clary stood, looking in from the doorway at the pitch black apartment. Jace stood behind her, a tiny box of her stuff in his hands. Clary stepped inside reaching for the light switch which was apparently next to the door. She flicked the switch and looked over the apartment. It was the exact opposite of the apartment she'd just come from. Their apartment was simple, yet almost cosy, everything in their apartment was arranged and neat and in perfect order. What Clary looked at now, was a bomb site. Clothes strewn everywhere, covering the black and white tiled floor. Everything in here was made of angles, from the glass coffee table to the walls. It was sharp, edgy, modern and nothing like home. Clary felt cold, even though the apartment was relatively warm. She took another step in, carefully avoiding treading on something black and lacy on the floor- she didn't want to investigate. There were two large hard leather sofas either side of the coffee table, on which rested a selection of half-empty glasses and bottles. Turning around in a circle, Clary could see that the kitchen was part of this room, separated by an island counter. Everything over there also black and white, angular and glassy, classy but cold. A small hallway lead away, from where Clary stood she could almost make out 3 doorways. Clary stood aghast.

"So…. What do you think?" Jace said, observing her face carefully.

"It's well, well, it's…." She stuttered, lost for words.

"A tip. I know. Izzy is such a pig sometimes." Clary couldn't picture Isabelle in her head. She'd seen no pictures, or anything to give her any indication of her roommate's appearance- other than looking at Isabelle's brother Alec. How similar looking could a brother and sister be? She was probably going to be short and stocky with greasy hair and spotty skin caused by all the junk food Clary could see lying around. "I even offered to help her clean up this place." Jace added, his voice shocked at even his own words.

"Does that offer still stand?" Clary asked quiet, and sarcastic. Jace didn't reply.

Half an hour later, Jace had left and Clary had moved her stuff into what she supposed was her room. It was big- black and white like the rest of the place and surprisingly bare of everything. There was already a single bed, a desk, wardrobe, and draws but that was it. Isabelle had kept this room spare and not used it for storage- though Clary supposed Isabelle didn't really need storage space when there was a perfectly decent floor to throw your clothes on. She'd bluetacked a few posters on the bare wall, dressed the bed in her sheets from home. Taking out her laptop she placed it on the desk, and placed a picture of herself and her best friend Simon next to it. She emptied out her small suitcase, filling only 2 draws out of 4. Her closet only needed the bare essentials; she wasn't one who required excessive clothing. She made a pile out of all the books she had bought and placed them next to her bed, Full Metal Alchemist- one of her favourite Manga's on top. There was a large window which looked out onto the street below above the bed, she closed the blinds, though it was missing a couple of slats. She'd need to talk to Isabelle about that.

Happy with her arrangement of things, she kicked the suitcase and boxes under the bed before walking out into the living/kitchen/dining room. She glanced up at the silver clock on the wall. 8:00pm. Looking back down at the apartment, Clary thought she'd tidy up a little. Not enough to make a huge difference, in case that was the way her roommate wanted it, but enough so that they weren't living in squalor. Clary scolded herself for complaining, this place was actually decent. The rent price was affordable (If she managed to find a job in the next 2 months), and the location was great. The apartment was actually very nice and modern. Clary collected the glasses and plates from around the apartment and began to scrub.

9:00pm

Still no sign of Isabelle. All the plates and glasses were clean, and so was the rest of the kitchen. Everything had been bleached, scrubbed and disinfected until it was squeaky clean, and now Clary looked for something else to do…

10:00pm

Still no sign of Isabelle. Clary had piled the strewn clothes on the corner of the sofa neatly, before taking to mopping the tiled floor after removing the rest of the litter.

11:00pm

Still no sign of Isabelle. It was too late. In 3 hours, Clary had cleaned the main apartment room from top to bottom. The place was unrecognisable. She sat down on the sofa reading a book.

11:37pm

Still no sign of Isabelle. There was a knock at the door. Clary woke with a start after falling asleep, head in her book. She jumped up, wiping the sleepy dust from her eye and opened the door to find Jace standing there; just as he had done a few hours ago when he first greeted her. "Just came over to let you know….." He looked past her into the apartment. "Woah."

Clary scratched the back of her head, biting her lip. "Do you think she'll mind?"

"Who cares what Izzy says, she doesn't own this apartment, her parents do. This is brilliant!" he brushed past her inside, a waft of his peppery cologne ticking Clary's nose. "I've been trying to get her to clean up for months, and you've done it in what? 3 hours? God you must have been bored." He chortles. He sat himself down on the sofa without an invite, resuming the pose he did in his apartment, clearly he had no intention of leaving anytime soon and allowing Clary to return to her dreams. She carefully closed the door and sat on the sofa opposite.

"You said you came over to say something?" Clary hinted, hoping Jace would remember his point.

"Oh yeah, that." He replies, as if he'd been struck with some inspiration. "Izzy won't be back tonight. Alec got a call about an hour ago. Staying the night with her current boyfriend." He sighs.

"Oh. Okay." Clary acknowledged, praying silently in her head that he would leave.

"So Clarissa-"

"It's Clary." She interrupted.

"Okay, Clary then. So Clary tell me your life story?" He said taken aback. He had the aura of a relaxed person, but there was something in his golden eyes that sparkled with interest and danger.

"You don't want to know my life story Jace." She shrugged.

"On the contrary! I do! Just please make it brief." Clary rolled her eyes and leaned back, rubbing them with the palm of her hand.

"Girl from suburbs, grows up, gets bored, wants to get out of suburbs so saves up and goes to the city." She summarises.

"Was that it?!" He sounds sincerely disappointed.

"What did you expect?" She says her voice high in pitch.

"A little more feeling, narration, more characters, because at the moment the protagonist is seems to be a little flat." Clary picked up a cushion and threw it at his face, he swiftly ducked out the way. "Oh feisty! Do I sense a character development?" He laughed, clearly he was hilarious in his own head, but Clary had had enough of this for tonight.

"Jace, it's been a long day and I'm tired-"

"Are you kicking me out now Miss Fray? Fine I get the message!" He stands up, throwing up his arms in defeat. He winks at her and walks out the apartment, but not before shouting. "See you tomorrow!" Clary sincerely hoped not.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was 3 in the morning when Clary heard the door to the apartment clatter open. Somebody staggered in, crashing around in the kitchen. What if she was being robbed? Panic filled her head, adrenaline coursing through her veins. What could she do? If she screamed maybe she could wake Jace and Alec across the hall! But what if the robber was armed? They could shoot or stab her! And all of Isabelle's possessions were at stake if she didn't stop it. She looked around for her phone, her primary thought that she should call the police, however her phone was on the coffee table still from where she'd been texting Simon earlier this evening. Clary paused to think again. She could climb down the fire escape. She went to the window and tried forcing it up, but it didn't budge a centimetre. Cursing profanities under her breath, she realised the only thing she could do was confront the burglar. Perhaps if she screamed loud enough she'd wake Jace or Alec? Maybe both if she was lucky? Surely if she made enough noise, somebody would come to her aid…

Clary grabbed the umbrella she'd dropped on the floor of her room, it would offer her some protection. She opened the door a tiny bit and paused to listen- silence. She opened it a little more, just enough so that her tiny frame could slide through soundlessly, umbrella clasped tight between her hands. She worked hard to control her breathing, every step of the way listening for movement. There was somebody around the corner in the kitchen. Clary pressed her back against the cold hard wall, trembling slightly. She heard the fridge door shut, and the person sigh lightly. Was it a woman? The picture of a brawny guy dressed in black carrying a swagbag quickly dissolved in her head. _It's now or never Clary _she thought to herself, taking one last deep breath she jumped around the corner, screaming at the top of her lungs. Clary brought the umbrella down on the top of the burglar's head, who was also screaming at the top of her lungs.

However, unfortunately for Clary this thief knew how to handle herself in a fight, and before Clary knew anything about it she was pinned to the floor, being crushed by the weight of the thief. "Who are you and what have you done to my apartment?!" The woman yelled at Clary, her long dark hair in Clary's mouth. Then the thought came to Clary- this is Isabelle Lightwood.

"I'm Cla-" Clary's face was so smushed into the floor she could barely talk, but Isabelle interrupted again.

"What did you do with all my stuff?" Her grip tightened.

"Please" Clary tried to explain "I'm-" A crash came through the door as it was flung open, and in ran a shirtless Jace wielding a baseball bat, followed by Alec in plain black pyjamas carrying a heavy duty torch, both of them stood ready for action. Isabelle turned to them.

"Thank god you're here!" She exclaimed, yet still not relieving her grasp on Clary. "Call the police! This girl just tried to steal all my stuff!" The boys turned to each other with straight faces, before bursting out laughing. Even the moody Alec couldn't help it. Jace dropped his stance.

"Izzy, that's Clary, otherwise known as Clarissa Fray." Jace spoke to Isabelle a wide grin on his face. Izzy returned this look confusedly, clearly not knowing anything about a Clarissa Fray. "Your room mate? You remember your mom made you advertise for one?" Jace continued.

"Oh." She jumped nimbly to her feet, offering her hand to Clary, who took it feeling incredibly embarrassed, she couldn't look up. "To be fair though Clarissa, you did attack me with an Umbrella. Which really hurt actually." Izzy's hand shot to her face.

"She hit you with an umbrella?!" Jace cried out laughing once again, Alec sniggered behind him. Clary turned red.

"I didn't mean to!" She burst out. "I thought she was a burglar!" She looked up from the floor and was hit immediately by Jace's shirtless form, losing the ability to form sentences. Surely this is what Adonis looked like. "Let me get this straight- you thought a burglar broke into the apartment so you attempted to bring them down- with an umbrella?" Clary nodded, Jace was flabbergasted. "Well you are officially the bravest girl I have ever met, another exciting character development." He actually looked impressed by this, but once again Clary could not look away from him, her mouth hung open. She'd have told him off about the whole 'character development' thing if she could ever get over this momentary lapse in her composure.

"Hold your horses Jace, I'm still pretty sure that's me, and..." Izzy said, turning her attention back to Clary. "It still doesn't explain why all my stuff has gone." She crossed her arms. It seems that touching Izzy's stuff was crossing a line.

"I cleaned…" Clary confessed.

"Izzy you should be thanking her. This place constantly looked like the aftermath of one of Magnus' parties."

"Stay out of this Jace. Go home."

"Fine fine…" He stalked off. Alec it seemed, had already left silently without them noticing. Clary watched after Jace, with Izzy watching her facial expression intently.

"Thanks Clary. For cleaning." She narrowed her eyes, as Clary turned her attention back to Izzy. A smirk crossed Izzy's lips. "Were you checking him out?"

"Who me? No…" Clary was quick to deny.

"You denied too fast." Izzy turned around and shut the door, locking it tight. "I'm going to bed Clary. We'll have a catch up tomorrow." She winked at Clary before heading down the small hallway to the room opposite Clary's, shutting the door.

This was going to be an excruciatingly awkward place to live, Clary thought to herself, getting into bed a second time.

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**If you liked it, or didn't like it as the case may be, please review it regardless! I thrive off knowing what you think and It's the encouragement I need to keep writing. **

**I hoped you enjoyed it. (I promise the chapters will get more exciting... Probably.)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Alec woke up to the unusual sound and smell of frying bacon. Was Jace up already? He rolled over to the side and looked at the clock. It was 8am. Jace was so often up early, but he never cooked- unless you count making cereal occasionally. If Jace really was in cooking, he needed to see, and possibly take pictures. Alec rolled out of bed, his baggy black shirt hanging loose. He stretched out his arms and walked barefoot into their kitchen, where sure enough Jace stood over the stove, a tea towel over his shoulder and a pan in his hand. Alec stood open mouthed. "Jace? Are you cooking?"

"Don't act so surprised! Of course I'm cooking." He said nonchalantly.

"But you never cook…"

"Yes I do."

"No you don't." Alec walked up to him, and looked over his shoulder at the bacon sizzling in the pan.

"Oh. Well if that IS the case, remind me to do so more in future. I'm a wonderful cook if I do say so myself." Jace seemingly talking to himself again, as he so often did when he got full of himself. His ego was big enough as it was thought Alec. Alec walked to the fridge and poured himself some orange juice.

"So what's the occasion?" He took a sip of his orange juice, still quite sleepy.

"If a man wants to cook himself and his adopted brother some bacon does that mean that there's an occasion?" Jace asked, but it seemed to be a rhetorical question, however Alec knew Jace enough to know that there was always a reason with Jace. Always another motive.

"There's always an occasion with you Jace, especially when you do something out of the ordinary." Alec sighed, rubbing his eyes again. He downed his juice and stood up again.

"Well remind me to be more spontaneous in future. I hate being predictable." There was a pause as he flipped the bacon. "but there is a reason I'm cooking. I've invited Clary and Izzy over for breakfast." Alec stopped in his tracks.

"You what?"

"So I am unpredictable… I invited Izzy and Clary over for breakfast." Jace repeated.

"No, I heard that part. I just want to know why?" Alec turned to look at his golden haired brother, who was already completely dressed and washed. He wore smart black skinny jeans, and a fitted burgundy tee, displaying his muscular upper arms, though like Alec at this current moment in time, still barefoot.

"Because when I was showing Clary into the apartment yesterday, I noticed your sister didn't have any food in…. and Izzy would probably try cooking for Clary and we don't want her scaring off, or dying when she's just got here." Jace hunched his shoulders over the stove, and then flipped the bacon out onto the plate. "I'd go and get dressed. They'll be here in a minute."

Alec shook his head as he walked back to his room. Jace was unpredictable. Out of all of Izzy's roommates, he'd never gone into this much effort. Shrugging it off as nothing, because he of all people knew how bad his sisters cooking was, he went to get changed. Taking another look at the clock, he had 1 hour before he had to be at university. Alec studied Law and history, two hard subjects in which he took delight, and which made his parents proud. He was the only one of their two and a half children (not including their younger brother Max) who was at university. Isabelle never applied as she already had a job doing some minor modelling, and Jace had already decided that school wasn't for him- infact it didn't seem that work was for him either. Alec got changed, and combed his messy hair (which unsurprisingly didn't really have any effect) and brushed his teeth. He grabbed his bag and laptop from his desk and walked back into the kitchen/diner/living room. "Ah and so the prodigal son appears." Izzy chimed. "Ready for another day at school?" Alec raised an eyebrow at her, before pushing her feet off the table.

"Manners Isabelle." Izzy's feet hit the floor, and she stuck out her tongue. Jace was still hunched over the stove, frying eggs now, and Clary sat at the tiny kitchen table looking very uncomfortable.

Clary had woke at 7:15am. Usually she had no problem with early starts, but the late night and the arrival of Isabelle at 3am had really taken it out on Clary. She sat there yawning, and probably would of slept a while longer if it wasn't for Jace's persistent knocking on the door. She'd rolled out of bed- still able to hear Isabelle's snores from across the hall. Clary had rushed to the door in her old pyjamas and there Jace stood, fully dressed (to both Clary's relief and disappointment). _"I didn't wake you did I?" Jace asked as Clary opened the door. She just stared at him. "Oh, sorry." He apologised. "Anyway, now you're up I wondered if you'd like to come over the hall for some breakfast-"_

_"Right now?" Clary interrupted, wide eyed._

_"No, in a little while." He took a step towards Clary, leaning down slightly to whisper in her ear. "You should know that Isabelle is the worst cook around, and you should try to avoid eating her food for as long as you possibly can." He leaned back with a smirk. _

_"Okay." She said. "We'll be over in a little while." Clary shut the door in Jace's face, leaving him smiling._

She dug into her breakfast with vigour. The bacon was just right- not to crispy or too flimsy. The egg was fried on both sides and the toast was crunchy. Jace could cook. Herself, Isabelle, Jace and Alec sat at the table eating in silence. She watched the silent Alec- who had barely said a word to her, check his watch. "Oh shi-"

"Manners Alec!" Isabelle cut in, looking pleased with herself that she'd managed to get one back at him.

"I have to go." He jumped up and grabbed his coat. Clary watched him run out the door and into the hall slamming the door behind him.

"Where's Alec off to?" Clary looked puzzled, nibbling on a piece of toast.

"School." Jace stretched out on his chair, his long legs reaching all the way under the table to the other side.

"Oh, what's he study?" she asked Jace inquisitively, however it was Isabelle to answer.

"History and Law. The two most boring subjects ever to exist."

"In your opinion Izzy, Alec seems to like them."

"He just wants to please mom and dad. I think dad was the one who suggested he take them." She rolled her eyes. Clary sat and watched them talk.

"So Clary, what are you going to do with your days in the city?" Jace turned to her.

She gulped. "I'm going hunting for a job today. Hopefully I was going to take some night classes down at the university too." She picked up her mug of tea.

"Oh, I might come with you. Give you a tour." Jace looked thoughtful.

"Do you not have to work or something?" Clary asked. Jace was about to answer but Izzy cut in.

"Jace? Work?" She snorted with laughter. He shot daggers at the beautiful black haired girl.

"I like to think of it as searching for my true calling" Clary noted his expression. It was like he loved hearing the sound of his own voice.

"How about you Isabelle? Do you have a calling?" Clary used her fingers, to indicate quotation marks around the word calling, making Jace turn his daggers away from Izzy and back onto her.

"Well I don't have a calling, but I do have a job." She raised an eyebrow at Jace. "I'm a model." She smiled. Clary wondered how she didn't see it before. Of course Izzy was a model, she was the most beautiful girl Clary had ever seen with long spidery legs and symmetrical features, making her impossibly pretty, making Clary felt somewhat jealous of her new roommate.

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**Tell me what you think of the Alec focus! Please please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Sorry it's taken so long, I'm feeling inspired again now so I'll start writing more now!**_

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Chapter 5

Alec popped the earphones in his ears, and turned up the music. His taste in music was more… obscure than his siblings. It wasn't weird; he just enjoyed more retro British bands like The Smiths, The Clash, and more recently The Libertines and The Vaccines. Izzy enjoyed more up to date pop and RnB, and Jace would listen to anything.

He opened the apartment door stepping out into the bitter spring day, though the sun was out there was a slight chill in the air. He walked down the steps, subconsciously walking to the beat of the song he was listening to. Putting on his sunglasses he began to stride down the street- the song playing 'Don't look back into the Sun' by The Libertines, yet he didn't see the irony in it. Alec took in some deep breaths, allowing it to fill his lungs and freeze his throat. It was going to be a nice day. Taking a moment to plan the route he'd take to the university in his head, he considered cutting through the park maybe getting a coffee on his way. He walked a block, passing their local go-to restaurant _("Taki's")_ and into a small coffee shop on the next block where he ordered a plain black coffee.

Sipping it as he went, Alec strode through the park ahead of time. He looked around enjoying watching the sun rise onto the dew covered grass as he stuck to the concrete pavement, this would be a good place for a picnic if it wasn't so very cold, he considered that later the sun may burn off the cold wet weather as the day progressed. It was just nice to be outside. Cutting through the park resulted in Alec having to backtrack slightly through the more commercial district, where the streets were filled with nightclubs and exclusive bars and restaurants. There were some people huddled around outside the clubs, clearly those who had been kicked out at closing hours and had just stayed there on the street, some too drunk to move. Alec cut down a small side street between two clubs, the name that stuck out to him was "Pandemonium", but this wasn't his scene and he didn't want to hang around here. As he walked swiftly down the narrow passage way, he heard a painful groan coming from behind a dumpster. The voice in his head told him to carry on, not to look, and not to get involved, but Alec had time to kill before class started and if somebody needed help it would be wrong to leave them lying there.

Alec slowed down his pace and peered around the dumpster. "Excuse me Sir" He cleared his throat. "Are you okay?" Alec sounded concerned, and had every right to be. The man in front of him was wearing tight iridescent pink hotpants and cowboy boots, matched with a silver string vest and midnight blue hair with yellow eyeshadow. It took Alec a moment to comprehend that the person in front of him was the very person who lived upstairs. "Magnus" Alec shook him, beginning to wonder if he was dead. "Magnus Bane." He shook again, as all of a sudden the eccentric designer from upstairs sat bolt upright.

"Gerroff me you filthy animal! You took my wallet what more do you want?!" Magnus yelled still half asleep, attempting to get up yet falling flat on his face. He had a long cut running down the length of his face, which looked a little septic and a black eye to match.

"Magnus calm down, it's Alec." He sounded a little annoyed yet still worried about the state that the upstairs tenant was in. Magnus starred hard at Alec, as his blurred vision began to focus.

"Alec who?"

"Alec Lightwood? I live downstairs"

"Ooh Alec, it's you handsome!" A wide grin spread across Magnus' face as he staggered forward to give Alec a hug and stroke his face. Alec despised having his own personal bubble of space being entered by anybody, but it was clear he was not going to be able to stop Magnus who stunk of cheap liquor from getting up close and personal.

"Can you remember what happened Magnus?" Alec carefully pried him away, holding him steady by the shoulders so he wouldn't fall over.

"Well, wouldn't you like to know." Magnus tried to wink, but in his intoxicated and injured state he blinked and fell backwards. Watching this unfurl as Magnus scrabbled around the floor, looking for something that wasn't there, Alec checked his watch. Class was starting in 10 minutes, if he ran now he could make it, but the sight of poor, confused, helpless and quite frankly pathetic Magnus, Alec admitted was not something he could leave alone.

Alec bended down and grabbed Magnus' upper arm securely. "Your place or mine?" Magnus slurred at him, the pink hotpants sparkled in the morning sun.

"How about we try the hospital first?" Alec suggested his voice calm and tolerant. He took off his thick navy trench coat and placed it over Magnus' shoulders, before guiding the now nearly unconscious man to the end of the side street onto a main boulevard. The boulevard wasn't where Alec wanted to be seen, especially when he was supporting an up and coming fashion designer (known by many in this part of the city). He hailed a cab and loaded Magnus in. "Beth Israel Hospital" Alec ordered the driver looking very displeased now. The driver said nothing and drove all the way there without saying a snide word about the man in the back of his cab, for which Alec tipped him extra.

* * *

**Review! Love? Hate? Comment on Magnus' hotpants? Just let me know what you think and how to make it better!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Clary stood over the washing up bowl in Jace's apartment scrubbing at the pans and plates he'd used to cook breakfast. "You don't have to y'know." Jace said, his feet up on the table, using a toothpick to get the remains of bacon out of his teeth.

"It's the least I can do." Clary replied cheerily.

"Seriously Clarissa…"

"Clary." She corrected

"You don't have to wash up, we have a dishwasher." He finished, not even looking slightly interested. Clary dropped the plate in the bowl with a clash.

"You have a what now?" She turned around and stared at Jace.

"A dishwasher." Jace nodded not picking up on her annoyance.

"You didn't think to mention that before I started washing?" Her annoyance clear. Jace just shook his head.

"You're a real clean freak aren't you?"

"Clean freak? Clean freak? Really? If by that you mean I don't like leaving dirty things lying around, then yeah. That's what I am." Jace really knew how to get under her skin. There was a moment of silence as Jace watched her from behind, observing carefully as she scrubbed angrily at the pan.

"You going to finish that or put it in the dishwasher….?"

"I'm going to finish what I started." She replied in a huff. Izzy had already gone to work.

"So Clary, plans for today?"

"Find a job, I guess."

"I'll help!" He chimed.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea Ja-"

"Of course it is. I know where everything is, so you won't get lost, and I have a way with people. If anybody can get you a job, it's me. " He refused to let it go. "I could also give you a private tour of the city! Show you all the good spots, nice resturants, pubs, clubs…" He continued to list things and Clary began to wonder if he would drop it and let her go by herself. Clearly when he was still going on about it 5 minutes later, Clary had no choice but to say;

"Fine. I'll let you show me round." She said grudgingly.

"Wonderful Idea Clarissa."

"Clary." She spat at him. He just laughed and winked at her, putting on his shoes and socks, before they hit the city.

_- Later that night -_

Clary and Jace had been out all day, handing out her resume to every place which had a vacancy. Clary was an artist and had approached different places, yet sadly nothing. She switched on her laptop, and turned on skype, scanning the short list of contacts before finding Simon. Simon Lewis was her oldest and closest friend she'd ever had, and probably ever would have. She clicked on his name and pressed "call". After a few seconds of ringing Simon's face appeared.

"Clary!" he sounded relieved. "I've been texting you all day! Did you get there all right? What's the apartment like? What's your roommate like?" The questions kept coming.

"Everything's fine Si." She smiled his curly hair and glasses just as they always were a comforting sight from home. He looked more at ease now. "The building is great, a 10 minute walk away from the centre which is really convenient."

"Yeah, I know that Clary we went through that before when we were researching before you left." He rolled his eyes, taking off his glasses. "Tell me about the people, are they nice?" Clary thought immediately of Jace who had been the perfect gentleman since she had arrived, and much to her surprise had actually been very helpful today. Jace was a people person.

"They are all really nice… Well maybe not all of them. Across the hall Jace and Alec live who are brothers to the girl who owns this apartment, Izzy, and Jace has been really nice to me-"Simons face soon narrowed, he furrowed his eyebrows a little, Clary noted this. "Oh don't look like that Simon, I ensure you his intentions are perfectly friendly. " She shook her head in some amount of disbelief. "His brother Alec however is- well kinda quiet… Just kinda gives me the impression I'm not welcome here…" Simon looked confused.

"Have you spoke to him?" He asked.

"Well…..no."

"Then how can you know he doesn't want you here?"

"Jace said he's not usually this cold."

"Maybe in the one and a half days you've known him, he's just been having a bad day?" He Simon, and Clary admitted to herself that he had a point, but thankfully he swiftly changed the subject. "So what do they do in the city? What are you going to do now you're there?"

"Well Alec is a Law or History student or something… Jace told me."

"Jace said this, Jace said that…" He mocked. "Okay, so what does this Jace you're obsessed with do then?"

"He's…. between jobs you might say."

"I don't like the sound of this guy." Simon confessed suspiciously.

"You don't have to, I-"

"Don't defend him."

"I wasn't about to!" She said, although she totally was going to defend him.

"Clary Fray I know you too well to know when you're about to defend somebody. You barely know him so you can't defend him-"

"And you don't know him at all Simon Lewis, therefore you cannot judge." She rubbed her forehead.

"Does he like you? Do you like him?" Simon gulped.

"Can we drop the Jace subject now please?" She didn't want to discuss dating with Simon, or anybody else for that matter. Who she liked was her secret that shouldn't have to share.

"Fine." Simon grunted. "What about this Izzy then?"

"Izzy is a model." And as if on cue, Clary heard the door slam and a voice call for her.

"Clary I'm back!" Isabelle yelled loud and clear before appearing at Clary's door.

"Hey Izzy" Clary smiled, looking away from Simon and the computer screen for a minute.

"What are you doing?" Izzy asked curiously, her black hair in loose curls hanging down her front, noting Clary's chatter with the computer. Clary turned the laptop to face her roommate, so the webcam could see Isabelle.

"Isabelle Lightwood, meet Simon Lewis. Simon Lewis, meet Isabelle Lightwood." Clary could hear Simons light intake of breath at the sight of Izzy through the speakers on her laptop. "Simon is my oldest friend, and Izzy here is my roommate." She put her introductions to the side.

"Hello there." Izzy smiled at the computer, offering a small wave to the webcam.

"Hi…" Simon replied clearly in some sort of shock. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Izzy turned back to Clary and said "Just a heads up, I'm going for a shower so the bathroom is in use. We don't currently have a lock on the door in case you hadn't noticed." Smiling curtly Izzy disappeared back down the hall. Clary turned the laptop to face her again, Simon looking around in his own room, as if he was trying to watch her go. Clary cleared her throat.

"Holy shi-"

"Simon." She snapped.

"A model?! Okay, I'm coming over to see you next week. Can you give me a tour of the apartment on webcam right now?" He asked hopefully, Clary knew this nonchalant tone too well, knowing that he wanted to get another look at Isabelle.

"I am not following Izzy around the apartment Simon. Not happening, and if you come up here, you come up here to see me not my roommate deal?"

"I would never do such a thing…."

"Sure." Clary said sarcastically raising an eyebrow. "I've got to go Si, I need to call mom and Luke. Speak to you tomorrow." She moved the mouse towards the 'X' in the corner.

"Clar- wait-"

"Goodnight Simon." She clicked the cross and the screen went blank of Simons face once more.

* * *

**You all know the drill by now if you've bothered to read this far into my ramblings. Please please comment! Any thoughts at all! Good, bad, constructive, deconstructive, whatever I need to know! I thrive off your feedback, so say something. It will only take a minute, I promise.**

**Thank you for reading this far, you fabulous person. **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

There was nothing wrong with Magnus, other than a slight gash on his forehead, a mild concussion and a terrible hangover. After taking Magnus to the hospital, Alec had decided to take him home- It was too late to go to class now anyway. Fortunately for Alec, on reaching the top floor of the apartment building, Magnus did have his keys. (He thanked the Angel for this.) The eccentric had one arm slung around Alec's head, nuzzling into his neck, trying to sleep. It was highly distracting for Alec, who was struggling to support his weight, while pushing open the door to a black apartment. "Magnus please could you stop?" It was more of a stage whisper. Magnus just made a noise which sounded quite like a 'no'.

He'd never been in Magnus' apartment before. Izzy had, she was invited to the parties, and so was Jace. The odd invite was occasionally passed his way, but he'd always have Uni the next day, and therefore decided that it wasn't going to benefit him if he partied until the crack of dawn. The apartment was the size of the whole building, not that Alec could see any of it. There were no windows up here… As he dragged Magnus' limp body into the apartment, a selection of lights suddenly came on, illuminating apartment in different coloured LEDs. It was modern, it was beautiful. Suddenly there was a whirring sound and the ceiling began to open- wait not the ceiling, a blind. The whole roof of Magnus' living room was a window. The whole ceiling a skylight. Alec stood open mouthed.

Magnus seemed to react to the light, shielding his eyes. He stumbled away from Alec, going towards a panel on the wall. He hit a button and the blinds closed again. Magnus hit another and the lights dimmed down, others turning off completely. He grabbed Alec by the collar and pulled him through another room (a dining room perhaps?) "Magnus- please stop…. I have to go…." Alec resisted.

"No." Magnus said, reaffirming his grip on Alec's shirt. Alec looked for a way to move, but was suddenly distracted by a large fish tank taking up a whole wall in front of him- wait… The fish tank was the wall. It gave off a blue glow, inside were weeds and rocks not to mention all the exotic and expensive fish, but you could see all the way through into a bedroom…. Magnus' bedroom! Alec suddenly realised what was happening.

"Oh would you look at the time? I best be off now…." He said, still resisting.

"You're not going anywhere…" Magnus said groggily, opening a door to the room, illuminated by the tank wall. Magnus pushed Alec down to the bed.

"Magnus…. Just no. Stop. Think about this…" Alec tried. He'd have to escape somehow…

"Lie down."

"No-"

"Just do it." Alec a little afraid now, did as asked. Magnus suddenly sat on the bed next to Alec, and lay back, resting his head on Alec's chest. "Just hold me." Magnus whispered. The black haired boy awkwardly slipped an arm around Magnus' shoulders who then slowly drifted off into the deep abyss of sleep, slowly followed by Alec.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 3 Hours Later ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Magnus wakes up; his head feeling like it was being pounded by a rock. He goes to stretch out, but it seems his arms are occupied already by the cute blue eyed boy from downstairs. His head was resting on the chest of Alec Lightwood. The breath catches in Magnus' throat, this was not happening. Magnus carefully sat up and checked himself over- he was fully clothed in what he went clubbing in last night, and Alec was dressed for work. Hell, Alec was still wearing his coat, surely a good sign Magnus though (however he wouldn't have said that he'd of been disappointed if they were both wearing a little less). The 25 year old wracked his brain, trying desperately to remember what happened a few hours ago. He had pictures in his head, an alleyway, a cab, Alec in the cab, the hospital, the cab again and- "Oh hell no." Magnus practically face palmed. The words _'hold me'_ playing over in his mind, did he seriously ask Alec Lightwood to _'hold'_ him? That was the first time that had ever happened since Camille, and that was some time ago now…

He stood now, after reluctantly escaping Alec's arm which was somehow wrapped around him. He was a little dizzy but that was nothing that some aspirin couldn't fix. He took one, with some water before smelling himself- sweat, sewers and alcohol. He walked back into his room, and found Alec sitting on his vintage velvet duvet, it's purple colour almost a dark blue with the glow of his fish tank wall. The light from the wall also accentuated Alec's eyes. Piercing, and deep at the same time, Magnus had often pictured himself swimming in them- from a distance of course. Nobody knew he had a slight crush on the guy downstairs. Alec turned towards him, the tension in the room could be cut with a knife. He opened his mouth to speak but so did Magnus. "I shou-"

"You shou-" Speaking at the same time made them pause again, neither of them finishing a sentence. Magnus continued. "Sorry, you first-"

"No you say-" They continued to overlap, unintentionally interrupting each other. This was beginning to get a little awkward. They both opened their mouths to speak again, but carried on regardless of talking together;

"You-"

"I-"

"Should go." They spoke both sentences together, yet the last two words were in unison. Magnus nodded awkwardly and bobbed his head towards the door, thankful that the moment had passed and that Alec was not going to ask for an explanation of what happened though he realised he probably did owe the boy a great deal, and at somepoint in the near future was going to have to ask for an explanation from him about everything that he couldn't remember. Alec nodded courteously, brushing off his coat and striding out the way he came- through Magnus' bachelor pad.

As soon as the door was shut behind Alec, he muttered to himself in a state of shock. "What the hell just happened…"

* * *

**_A/N:_**

**_I must apologise sincerely for the fact that it has taken me so darn long to write this! I meant to write it sooner, but never got around to it! (My inspiration has run dry, I'm in a writing slump.) My sincerest apologies to you all who follow, or don't and are just reading this for the first time. I plan to write more regularly now. (Hopefully.) So please don't count this out just yet. I will update as often as I can! You have my word, which is my honor, and as a Hufflepuff, my honor is important._**

**_I'm also sorry this chapter isn't very long/_**

**_SO, anyway. Review! Tell me what you think! How's my Malec coming along? Hopes for Sizzy and Clace? Did this chapter make sense, because I'm not sure it did? TELL ME EVERY LAST THOUGHT IN YOUR HEAD! Good, Bad anything!_**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Jace move out of my way…" Clary sighed as he stood leaning against the door, blocking her path out to her bedroom. He peered in over her head- which he could do because he was a head taller than her;

"So this is your room?" He said with a smirk, she pushed him back and shut the door after herself going out onto the hallway. Jace had been popping up all week: here, there and everywhere- mostly when she was doing something wrong or embarrassing: Clary put her clothes on inside out- Jace was in the apartment fixing the sink (which was still broken), Clary dropped the shopping down the stairs- Jace was at the bottom (didn't offer to help), Clary went to take the trash out in her PJ's and got locked outside in the rain- Jace was the one to let her back inside. He swore he wasn't stalking her, that he was merely in the 'right' place, as he called it, at the right time to help her out and set her on the right path. It infuriated Clary because Jace thought he was always so profound all of the time, she also found it infuriating when she thought about how attractive Jace is and how she kept messing up whenever he was near. Clary compared the Lightwoods (Jace included in this) to the popular kids at school- but not the desperate ones who fight to keep their place on the social ladder, the ones who were just effortlessly so cool and collected all of the time that people wanted to be one them, or do anything to be near them. She'd never been one of those kind of people at school, so being close to those kind of people was strange- but not as strange as she thought it would be. They were by all accounts normal. (Well Kind of…)

"Yes that is my room, and no, you can't go in there Jace." She sighed.

"I don't see why not…" He leaned forward towards the door handle. Clary slapped his hand away and Jace drew back feigning wounded.

"It's a mess in there."

"So you've cleaned the whole apartment for this Simon chap who's coming to stay, but not your room?" Clary walked with Jace in tow. "You moved in a week ago, surely it can't be that bad already…" She said nothing.

"Why do you want to go in there anyway?"

"Curiosity I guess, It's not like I go into many girls bedrooms."

"You go into Izzy's all the time-"

"Izzy doesn't count. She's my sister."

"I'm sure you've been into plenty of other girls bedrooms." She muttered, loud enough for Jace to hear if he wanted to.

"Oh" he scoffed "What's that meant to mean?" He folded his arms.

"Well… what do you think it means?" what did she mean? Clary asked herself, she just assumed that Jace would be the kind of guy who would frequent bars in order to pick up girls- whom she assumed he'd go home with… who could say no to that? Clary often found herself admiring the fine lines of Jace's face, the golden waves of his hair and the warm honey colour of his eyes.

"I think you have got me all wrong Clarissa Fray." She hated being called Clarissa, but there was something different about it when he called her. "I assure you I haven't been to that many girls rooms- I prefer inviting them back to my apartment." The silence that ensued was awkward. Clary clearly had struck a nerve and Jace was offended by her assumption, however true it may have been.

"I…er…. Sor-"

"It doesn't matter." He dismissed it, and went to the fridge. Clary watched biting her lip, she could be so insensitive sometimes. "There's nothing in your fridge other than bacon and vegetables." Jace moved onto the cupboards, opening them up. "So- where is this Simon guy going to sleep?"

"Err…. My room or the couch I guess…."

"Your room?" Jace said pointedly, looking back from the cupboard. "Wait- you and him aren't dating are you?" Clary was struggling to read Jace now- he looked shocked? Angry? Disappointed?

"No… Just old friends."

"Does he like you?"

"Wha- No"

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

"Nope."

"Do you like him?"

"No! Jace, this isn't 'Sex in the City' is it? We're not going to gossip about boys now are we? Oh wait- do you want to talk about your guy crush on that guy you introduced me to up the shop… what was his name… " She paused to think. "Jordan! Do you have a crush on Jordan you want to discuss?" She said it teasingly, but she really didn't want to have this conversation with Jace. Of all people… Simon had feelings for her once, and they'd tried being an item for like 3 weeks and it just didn't work so they went back to being just very close friends, but she wasn't planning on telling Jace about it.

Jace narrowed his eyes. "There is something you're not telling me… Tell me. Tell me now." He had grabbed a box of cereal out of the cupboard and walked towards Clary carefully, scowling slightly as he did so. The girl was torn- tell him? Or not tell him? Then she had to ask herself why she didn't want Jace to know in the first place? This guy was nothing to her… he just lived over the corridor.

"Okay… Me and Simon went out for about 3 weeks last Christmas. It didn't work. We broke up, and went back to friends." He continued to scowl.

"I knew it." He suddenly smirked, acting very smug. "Men and Women cannot co-exist without sex getting in the way."

"How did you come up with that one?" He walked towards the sofa, as she asked incredulously.

"I didn't. When Harry Met Sally, Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan… Good film, but never a truer word spoken."

"Never seen it." She murmured.

Jace began to quote, " _'I'll have what she's having'_ How could you not have? It's a classic!" Clary was surprised that Jace was watching romcoms. "Oh and while we're on this subject, Simon is not allowed to stay here."

"You what?" Clary had to double take as she sat down opposite him. "Say's who?"

"Me."

"Oh and what gives you that power?"

"I live in this building, and feel it would be… indecent."

"How so?"

"It…. Just would be. End of story. He's not allowed to stay in your room."

"Oh, so now you're my mom? Wait- my mom is totally cool with that, and so is Isabelle by the way."

"It's not allowed. I can show you the housemate agreement if you would like? Created by my mother."

"So is this The Big Bang Theory now?"

"Don't be silly Clary, that's the roommate agreement." She was surprised by how nerdy Jace actually was, he was fiddling with his phone and then pulled up a document on it. "He-hem. Clause 6.7 of your contract upon entering this building is that no member of the opposite gender may stay overnight in the apartment."

"You made that up." She scowled.

"No I didn't."

"Okay, how about all of your female callers?" She was trying to hit Jace's nerve again.

"They stay here, or really don't stay at all- ask Isabelle." They stared at each other, Clary scowling trying to see if he would break, Jace smug and knowing.

"Fine, he'll have to stay with you and Alec."

"Fine… Wait! No, I don't want that-"

"It's in my bedroom, or it's in your apartment. Clause or no clause, because I know for a fact that if you lose one more housemate, you all have to go back and live with your mother." She folded her arms and leaned forward. "The ball is in your court."

"That's blackmail…" He leaned forward too so they were inches apart. "Well played Fray. He will have to stay with us."

"That's what I thought Herondale." She grinned smugly and pulled back.

* * *

**A/N: There won't be another chapter for a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd give you some Clace to go off. **

**Same as usual, please review. I haven't read it through, so if anything doesn't make sense tell me in the review and I'll edit it to make it better.**

**I had a lot of Ideas for this chapter, involving a food fight and bringing back an umbrella but for some reason that didn't happen... I'm sure it will come back in later chapters. **

**Tell me if you liked it! I live off the reviews and feedback, so the more you say the better it will be. I promise. People on reviews wanted Clace? I give you Clace. **

**Next chapter will be in about 2-3 weeks time, and will probably be Clace with Simon and Izzy! Bare with it! **


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